October 08, 2012

Fort Worth water employee, hit by motorist, undergoes surgery

UPDATE: Mayor Betsy Price says the injured employee underwent surgery Monday and "will have a very long road to recovery."

"We just left the hospital and we were able to talk with his dear family," Price said in a release posted late Monday on the city’s web site. "Please keep this city employee in your thoughts and prayers. And, please remember to be careful driving through any work or construction zone across our city."

Price told NBC5 that the man’s mother, father, wife, daughter, and brother were at the hospital. The brother is a Fort Worth police officer, she told the TV station.

"They are in good spirits and just asking for our thoughts and prayers," Price told the TV station.

Here's the original post: A water department employee working on a sewer line was struck Monday morning by a motorist, suffering serious injuries, police said.

The accident happened at 9:30 a.m. at West Rosedale Street and 8th Avenue on the Near South Side.

Two water employees were doing routine maintenance on a sewer line in one of the eastbound lanes of Rosedale, and had set up a cone pattern behind their city van, Police Cpl. Tracey Knight said.

An elderly woman in a Cadillac, “for unknown reasons, disregarded the cone pattern” and struck one of the employees, pinning him against his van, Knight said. The other employee was able to jump safely out of the way, she said.

Both the injured employee and woman were transported to local hospitals, Knight said. Information on the extent of injuries was not available Monday night, but Knight said the employee was in serious condition. The woman’s airbag deployed during the accident.

Police did not disclose the names or ages of the two. Knight said the injured employee has been with the city for seven years.

It did not appear the woman was impaired by drugs or alcohol, but police are investigating, Knight said.